MLA Quick Guide:
Citing Books, Encyclopedias, Databases, and Websites
Book Format:
Author Last Name, First Name. Book Title. Publishing City: Publisher, Year. Print.
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1987. Print.
For Automated Citation Sites:
Citationmachine.net → Choose “book”
Easybib.com → Choose “book” from the tabs
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Encyclopedia Format:
“Article Title.” Reference Book Title. Edition. Year. Print.
(Some citation sites will add publisher and city, but it is not necessary if the encyclopedia is well known)
"Elevator." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15 ed. 2003. Print.
For Automated Citation Sites:
Citationmachine.net → Click on “Encyclopedia or Reference Work”
Easybib.com → Click on “All 58 Options” then, “Encyclopedia”
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Reference (Any non-encyclopedic references with “REF” as part of call #) Format:
“Article Title.” Reference Book Title. Edition Number (if available). Volume Number. Publishing City: Publisher, Year.
Print.
"Margaret Mitchell." Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. 11. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1983. Print.
For Automated Citation Sites:
Citationmachine.net → Click on “Encyclopedia or Reference Work”
Easybib.com → Click on “All 58 Options” then, “Encyclopedia Article” (do NOT check “well known”)
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Databases (EBSCO) Format:
Author Last Name, First Name. “Name of Article.” Title of Journal Volume.Issue. (Year): page numbers. Name of
Database. Web. Date of Retrieval.
EBSCO Example (from a Journal):
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal 50.1 (2007): 173-96.
EBSCO Student Research Center. Web. 27 May 2009.
For Automated Citation Sites:
Citationmachine.net → Click on “More” then “Work from an Online Database” (under non-print)
Easybib.com → Click on “Database” tab then, choose the type of article you are citing (journal, newspaper, etc.)
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Online Encyclopedia (World Book) Format:
“Article Title.” Online Encyclopedia Title. Year. Database Title. Web. Date Retrieved.
"Turtle." World Book Online. 2010. World Book Advanced. Web. 10 Sept. 2010.
For Automated Citation Sites:
Citationmachine.net → Click on Click on “Online Encyclopedia”
Easybib.com → Click on “Database” tab then, “Encyclopedia Article”
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Website (general) Format:
*** It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings are often updated, and information available on
one date may no longer be available later.
Remember to use n.p. if no publisher name is available and n.d. if no publishing date is given.
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization
affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication.
Date of access.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue University, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.
For Automated Citation Sites:
Citationmachine.net → Click on Click on “Web Document”
Easybib.com → Click on “Website” tab
MLA no longer requires the use of URLs in MLA citations. Because Web addresses are not static (i.e.,
they change often) and because documents sometimes appear in multiple places on the Web (e.g., on
multiple databases), MLA explains that most readers can find electronic sources via title or author
searches in Internet Search Engines.
Russell, Tony, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth Angeli, and Russell Keck. Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide. Welcome to the Purdue
University Online Writing Lab (OWL). 16 Nov. 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2011.